Stimuli-responsive coatings (Zhang & Han (2010) Chem. Soc. Revs. 39: 676-; Mendes P. M. (2010) Chem. Soc. Revs. 37: 2512; Roy et al., (2010) Prog. Polymer Sci. 35: 278; Nandivada et al., (2010) Prog. Polymer Sci. 35: 141; Motornov et al., (2010) Prog. Polymer Sci. 35: 174; Liu & Urban (2010) Prog. Polymer Sci. 35: 3; Lee et al., (2010) Prog. Polymer Sci. 35; Bajpai et al., (2008) Prog. Polymer Sci. 33: 1088; Gil & Hudson, S. M. Prog. Polymer Sci. 29: 1173) also known as “intelligent surfaces”, are capable of responding to small changes in environmental conditions such as pH, temperature, ionic strength, electric field and biomolecule concentrations. Surface coatings with controlled properties such as wettability (Zhang & Han (2010) Chem. Soc. Revs. 39: 676; Xin & Hao (2010) J. Chem. Soc. Revs. 39, 769; Chen et al., (2010) Prog. Polymer Sci. 35: 94; Li et al., (2007) Chem. Soc. Revs. 36: 1350) that can switch between hydrophilic and hydrophobic are of particular interest in the development of chemical and biological sensors (Zhang & Han (2010) Chem. Soc. Revs. 39: 676-; Mendes P. M. (2010) Chem. Soc. Revs. 37: 2512), anti-fog devices, and porous membranes. Several approaches have been applied to control physical and chemical properties of such coatings, for instance, self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) (Zhang & Han (2010) Chem. Soc. Revs. 39: 676-; Mendes P. M. (2010) Chem. Soc. Revs. 37: 2512) and polymer brushes (Zhang & Han (2010) Chem. Soc. Revs. 39: 676-; Mendes P. M. (2010) Chem. Soc. Revs. 37: 2512). However, these methods normally require sophisticated fabrication techniques. Layer-by-layer assembly, on the other hand, simply requires alternative deposition with two solutions onto the surface.